What DON'T you like about your bimmer?

Botond,
I have never seen a regular E30 with heated seats. Come to think of it, I have not seen an M3 in person with heated seats, either.

Heated seats? Are you joking? Of course there are heated seats in E30's! Well, the ones that had that option, at least...

Basically, you are complaining that your car, which in 1987 was the basest and smallest base model BMW sold in this country at the time, did not come with all the options but did come with ABS, power windows, active check control, sunroof, etc. and is too small? And you bought it for $400? Want some cheese with that whine?

Hey, the topic of this is "What you don't like" about your bimmer, and those are the things I don't like. Don't like that? Too bad.
Even today, the sheer number of things on the new car are options when many other cars that compete with it have some of those things as standard. So, I have the right to complain that I have to spend all this money putting in the things that should have been standard! Who in their right mind doesn't want the sport package? Who doesn't/ want heated seats (if you live in the northeast)? Who doesn't want the kickarse 15" basketweaves that hasn't been offered for the non-ix E30 in this country (at least not at a reasonable price)??

Dude, seriously...I hear ya. I'm in the Northeast too although not quite as North as you and not quite as cold. This time of year I run it through a quick exterior wash to get the salt off. Could they PUT any more friggin' salt on the roads?? We haven't had a decent snowstorm in the Philly area in almost 2 years but the roads look like a ceiling...pasty white! Way too much salt. I don't let it linger on the 525 no matter how cold it is.

Overall, I love my first BMW after the first 90 days -- a 2009 E93. My number one dislike that always comes to mind is the spotty or poor service (sales to service, online system accuracy during the ordering and mfg process, significant variance between dealer performance as described over and over in many forums). BMW focuses on the ride, and that's why I ended up switching from Lexus after more than 13 years of loyalty there, but with a premium brand, I don't want to compromise as I've had to. BMW could be so much better if they would spend just a little more time on improving and providing a consistent long-term customer experience I have grown accustomed to. BMWNA also needs to do a better job adapting how cars are sold in the US from a real US consumer perspective, e.g. how many of us are just frustrated having to see, pay and negotiate on independent line items such as "Training and MACO" -- just build it into the base cost as other competitors do here in the US and get on with it. Simple. A lof of us are not fooled with what the true "base price" is, when doing comparative shopping.

Of a more physical set of "dislikes" based on my E93, my list is a pretty small and would turn a great car into something exceptional for me:

Indicator light locations for a number of options (e.g. steering wheel heat and others) are in places that I'm sure save mfg costs, but are invisible to the driver. Useless as they are.

Impractical cupholders as others have mentioned

Internal cockpit storage is insufficient for basics such as where to put at least 1 pair of sunglasses when you have an iPod/iPhone option utilizing the space in the center console. The physical height of the glove compartment is a joke, making it effectively useless except for car registration and perhaps a couple of CDs -- or a real pair of gloves if I owned any.

Even with all the sport steering wheel and seat adjustments, I've yet to find a totally comfortable setup where my shoulders are not tired after 45 mins at the wheel and I can see most of the top part of the instrument cluster, including turn indicators. While not mentioned by many others, it's definately a worse situation for me than my previous Lexus, Acura, Toyota & Honda rides, where it was less of an issue. I suspect it must be related to the combination of the smaller sport wheel and my longer torso than average for a 6' guy. (No cracks, please! )

Remove the monstrous clown nose and physically install it if/when the OEM Alarm option is installed, or better yet, just include the basic alarm in the base as so many competitors do.

Allow Homelink to work even when the car accessory mode is off. Like it is in a Lexus, it would be great to open and close the garage door from inside the vehicle without having to turn on the car first.

I wish my E28 didn't have such a HUGE steering wheel. I would like to get the 3-spoke wheel, though

Not the one I have, right? That's a huge wheel too. With the sport seats pushing my thighs up more than the old one, my leg keeps hitting my hand as I turn the wheel. And, my left knee keeps cancelling out my left turn when I put the indicator down.

And, to stay on topic, I have a new thing I don't like about my E30:

I went to the body shop today and asked them if it would be possible to paint my diving boards body color after they've been tucked, and have been told that unless I want to have it repainted every year or two, that it isn't a viable solution because it wasn't meant to be painted and would probably come off after a while. I'M STUCK WITH THESE FRIGGEN DB's!

Not the one I have, right? That's a huge wheel too. With the sport seats pushing my thighs up more than the old one, my leg keeps hitting my hand as I turn the wheel. And, my left knee keeps cancelling out my left turn when I put the indicator down.

And, to stay on topic, I have a new thing I don't like about my E30:

I went to the body shop today and asked them if it would be possible to paint my diving boards body color after they've been tucked, and have been told that unless I want to have it repainted every year or two, that it isn't a viable solution because it wasn't meant to be painted and would probably come off after a while. I'M STUCK WITH THESE FRIGGEN DB's!

I have told you a million times and I will keep telling you until you get it. Get a front spoiler. Period

and if you do get an 87-88 'is spoiler, let us know your source; I thought those were nla. FYI, the 85-86 'is spoiler is about the same, it lacks the lower center opening as the eta's don't have the oil cooler.

and if you do get an 87-88 'is spoiler, let us know your source; I thought those were nla. FYI, the 85-86 'is spoiler is about the same, it lacks the lower center opening as the eta's don't have the oil cooler.

MGarrison do you still have one on your E30, from what I can tell from you sig pic, this is the spoiler you have on your car.

I have a friend who had an extra one. He was going to put it on his car, but never got around to it. I am guessing he sold it, but I am not sure, so I can see if he still has it if someone is interested. Just let me know.

and if you do get an 87-88 'is spoiler, let us know your source; I thought those were nla. FYI, the 85-86 'is spoiler is about the same, it lacks the lower center opening as the eta's don't have the oil cooler.

You see Botond, I am not the only one on here harping for you to get the front spoiler. Do not respond to this forum until you have one painted and installed with pics

MGarrison do you still have one on your E30, from what I can tell from you sig pic, this is the spoiler you have on your car.

Ya, I think I'm on my third one, which is now a bit beat up after years of driveway impacts/scrapes, etc. Last one got torn off when I hit a racoon going to a driver's school one night. Thankfully had only gotten about 40 minutes from home, had to come back and jerryrig the brake ducting the next day, then finally got away. I think the first one just expired due to attrition from hits, curbs, brackets breaking, etc.

I like the 'is spoiler, but its shortcoming is that it's support brackets are almost all hard plastic, and break fairly easily when bumped, or pushed from a steep driveway. When you lower an E30 w/ one of these spoilers, its almost inevitable you'll encounter a clearance problem in daily driving, even if you're cautious to the point of paranoia. I gave up on trying to keep the side mounting tabs attached (a good hit, and the glue bond to the metal mounting tab goes), and just ran bolts through the spoiler and fender mounting point.

Some people might be able to be more cautious - when I used my E30 as a daily driver, I had far too wide a variety of places to go to, without the time or patience to panic over every single driveway approach.

The is spoiler does stick out pretty far, so I can see how it can cause issues with clearance on a lowered car. I guess they made the over hang on that spoiler so great so it would line up with DB bumpers. Which, is why it looks so good on the big bumpered cars.